INT. ANNE'S APARTMENT - LATER THAT EVENING
Anne's opens the door to a cautious
Lydia. Lydia nods, self-consiously, as if
to say, "Yeah, I'm here".
ANNE
Hello... welcome... Come in.
Lydia enters, subtly inspecting the
apartment.
LYDIA
I've never been in an apartment above
a store. You always pass them on the
street but you never think anyone
really lives in them.
ANNE
(raising an eyebrow)
Can I get you anything...coffee...
tea...a little tequilla?
LYDIA
No, thank you.
LYDIA sits at the formica table, already
set up with nail care paraphernalia - with
the gleaming steel nail files it looks a
bit like surgery equipment.
LYDIA
Will it hurt?
ANNE
(threateningly)
That all depends on you.
...Sure you don't want a drink?
LYDIA's a little nervous about this
attempt at nail beauty.
ANNE is seated at her formica table
opposite LYDIA. SHE delicately holds one
of LYDIA'S hands, carefully applying the
stars to her nails. LYDIA sips her
tequilla with one hand. ANNE'S glass is
almost empty as she talks non-stop;
ANNE
...So he says to me, "you'll never find
another man like me"...I said, "please,
men like you have one hand on their
dicks and the other hand on their
mother's leg... I said, there's
the door - take a trip.
LYDIA
(paying close attention)
You threw him out?
ANNE makes a confident nod. LYDIA sips.
LYDIA
My parents were divorced.
ANNE
It's an awful thing, let me tell you.
My Aunt used to say,
(emphasizing)
"divorce is the sister-in-law of death".
ANNE nods knowingly. LYDIA squints as she
considers this.
ANNE works on LYDIA'S other hand, as LYDIA
sips her tequila from a straw.
ANNE
...SO...anybody special in your life?
LYDIA
(defensive)
Do I look like I have someone special?
SHE moves to picks up her tequilla with
the manicured hand but ANNE eyes her down.
ANNE
Well, don't say it like that. It's not
so...ya know, crazy an idea.
You are a healthy woman... You
hold a steady job. Ya not crossed
eyed or anything...
LYDIA
Well, there's nobody special!
ANNE
Fine.
LYDIA
(pause, then:)
I mean, it's not easy in this day and age.
ANNE
What?
LYDIA
Meeting ... people.
ANNE
Tell me about it. I've been dating
longer than I've been driving. I
can't believe that.
LYDIA
I never really...went through a...
dating period.
ANNE
It's a disgusting process. You haven't
missed anything.
LYDIA nods in agreement, but her face
tells us she feels she has missed a great
deal.
LYDIA is a little more loose and talkative
now as ANNE refills her glass, then takes
LYDIA'S other hand to apply the stars.
LYDIA
(deadpan)
...My mother calls every week.
Like a recurring nightmare.
"So, have you met anyone?"..."No mom"..
"So what's going to happen?"...
"I don't know Mom"...
I only thank God I moved out.
ANNE
I can't believe you lived with
her for that long. If I had to live
with my mother, I'd stab myself six times.
LYDIA
I think some people are meant to be alone.
(she takes a slug)
Maybe I was a man in a former life
and I used women for pleasure so
now I'm paying for it - which would
be fine, if I could just remember
some of the pleasure parts...
(drinks)
ANNE
I don't understand you. What is the
problem?
LYDIA
I don't feel like I make any impression on
people...At office parties I spend my time
re-arranging the hors d'oeuvres as people
eat them, so the platters will always look
full. I don't start conversations because
I have no idea how to end them...I think
I'm just meant to live in the background
of things.
ANNE
That's not true...You gotta ease up...
Conversations have a life of their own.
You gotta just go with it...We're having
a lovely conversation.
LYDIA
(bluntly)
I'm paying you.
ANNE drops her hand. SHE's pissed.
ANNE
You know, let me tell you something!
I'm not that kind of person. I don't
do people favors. If I talk to you
it's because I want to. So we're not
all ...uh...Jerri Hall...Big deal...
What a boring world if we were.
You do the best you can with what you got.
You're not so so invisible, ya know...
You want make an impression? Try this;
you can be a real bitch.
LYDIA
(her face lights up)
Really?
ANNE
Yeah!
LYDIA smiles at the thought of having such
an impressionable personality..
ANNE and LYDIA share a drink....
ANNE
It's hard being a woman. I don't care what
anybody says...People say we have choices
- we have no choices...My grandma used to
say that, for a woman in this world,
behind every door there's either
death...or husband.
LYDIA cracks up laughing.
LYDIA
"Sister-in-law of death"...That's
wonderful.
SHE takes another sip as JACK knocks on
the door and enters with PARRY.
JACK
Anne...!
(to LYDIA)
Oh hi? How's it going?